9 April 2016 - Registered Filipino overseas voters in British Columbia, Canada, started to cast their ballots at the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver today, April 9, the start of the month-long overseas voting for the Philippine National Elections this year.

Six voters personally cast their ballots today, hoping to get their votes for their favorite candidates for President, Vice President, Senators and Party List representatives counted in the national tally.

According to the Consulate, another 39 mailed-in ballots from registered seafarers were also received today, which will be counted among the postal votes.

Verne Vasquez, an employee of international money remittance chain I-Remit, was among the first to cast their ballots. He said he was excited to be able to get his voice heard in the choice of the country’s future leaders.

The Consulate clarified that only those who have previously expressed their preference to vote personally before April 5 will be allowed to personally feed their ballots into the vote-counting machines (VCMs) provided by the Commission on Elections.

Majority of the more than 33,000 registered voters in Western Canada will receive their ballots in the mail and are required to accomplish and mail them back to the Consulate before the May 9 deadline for voting.

The Consulate in Vancouver is one of 84 foreign service posts mandated under the law to conduct overseas voting. It is also one of only 30 which have been entrusted with the conduct of automated voting for this year’s elections.

The Consulate expects the turnout to be much heavier this time than in previous overseas elections because of the vast increase in voter registration and the growing interest of the overseas Filipinos in their country’s governance and domestic affairs. END